The database migration went smooth (though I had to use some tricks), but I’ve now to fix the image URLs manually and also work on modifying the template. Over the next few days I guess, depending on when I’ve time in hand.

I’ve been using Flickr for one and half year, and right now I’m completely hooked to it. I had a hard time to get rid of my Facebook addiction, but seems like giving up Flickr wouldn’t be easy. But hey, I don’t need to do so, cause it’s helping me to improve my photography skills and acquire more knowledge on photo-taking techniques by seeing the works for renowned photographers from around the world. So yay for me!

All the photographs on my account are under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, which means you can legally share, use, and modify them for non-commercial purpose as long as you put my name on the credit line and release them under the same license. If you want to use any of my pictures commercially, or looking forward for the high resolution version, then please get in touch with me.

The following guide is for a phpBB 2.x forums, which is an outdated version. This guide is not applicable for you if you’re using phpBB 3.x.

I have had the privilege of setting up and administer a lot of phpBB forums in the last five years. Spam has always been a major headache, but it went outrageous for my work and personal forums in recent times. Everyday a massive number of spam bot would register bypassing the phpBB visual confirmation, and would post illicit ads. Celebrity porn, erectile dysfunction medications, replica watches, hot jobs, Russian bride, what not?

I googled for anti-spam solutions, followed expert opinions found on various forums, but nothing seemed to work. The spammers seemed to be a step ahead on the game. However, after experimenting with a lot of MODs and hacks, I found the right ingredients (or combinations) to keep my forums clean. No more wasting time to enable new registrants manually, no more logging to the forums ten times a day to find and delete the spam posts.

If you’re tired of the spammers as well, then you might consider trying out my ingredients. It worked for me and should work for you too. Prior knowledge of MOD installation is needed for this purpose, for which you can refer to the official knowledge base guide. Also, remember to backup yours files before attempting the process.

Step 1: No URLs for a week:
To stop the spam bots putting advertisement thread on your forum, install the Only Active Members Can Post URLs MOD. Once installed and enabled, the forum members won’t be able to post URLs before (a) certain number days after registering (b) making certain number of posts.

This will reduce the number of spam posts in an immense scale, since the spammers never come back to post using the same nick twice. Forums that has guest posting enabled would gain from this MOD as well, as it would restrict URL posting from strangers.

Step 2: Hiding the spammers:
Hiding the spammers from the member list is crucial. To do this, install the Hide Zero Posters MOD. This would prevent the spam bots with zero posts from showing up in the member list page, and as won’t be displayed as the newest user on the front page.

Step 3: Deleting the spammers:
SQL queries and other geeky hacks are possible to wipw off the spam bots, but a easier and safer way is to use the Admin Userlist MOD. This MOD not only lets you view all of the forum members and various information about them, but it also allows you to delete, ban, activate, and de-activate multiple users at once.

I deleted 700 users (read: spam bots) in about 20 minutes. Make it a habit to spend at least ten minutes a week to perform this maintenance step.

Words of Wisdom:
Remember that no automation is good enough to keep your forums out of reach of spammers.

Moderation is an important part of the job which you’ve to do on a regular basis. The steps above and the hacks beyond would only help you to make your life easier.

If you need any assistance on deploying this on your forums then please feel free to contact me.

Ekushey E-mail Service is now being powered by Gmail instead of Everyone.net. I can now provide 2048 MB or 2 GB mailboxes for my users, which is 512% more than what I used to offer before. Any one who likes Gmail will like the new look and feel of Ekushey E-mail Service. Users can use all the popular Gmail features such as forwarding, POP access, calender, and so on. The only drawback is that they can’t create their own accounts — I’ll have to create them manually.

If you are looking for getting a fresh, professional looking e-mail address, then consider getting yourself an @ekushey.com address. Simply drop me a line to get one!